See, it's not that hard. Every time Audi updates its middle-range A6 sedan, it also comes out with a wagon version, offering the same amenities with more aluminum-und-steel hauling. Here's the 2012 edition of the A6 Avant.

At this point the Audi design cues that were shocking not that many months ago have become almost routine out of sheer repetition across Audi's line. LED headlamps, mix of turbocharged four-cylinder and 3-liter, 6-cylinder engines, big, arch-filling tires, all four of which can put power unto the earth — all back yet again in these first photos.

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And yet the appeal of the Avants somehow remains a mystery on these shores, where the Q3s and Q5s are far more popular. Because adding a few centimeters of ground clearance and shucking some of the wagon's tail supposedly make that much difference in real life? Not to be too snobby, but given the choice between a puffy softroader and a sleeked out wagen for the kinder, why not drive in style.